The Black Man

A foreigner is being chased through the streets of the town by a mob with murder in their hearts.

Warning

This plot digs into a somewhat mature theme as racicm and does not reflect the opinions of the author in any way. Thus it is meant for adult players that can draw a clear line between real-life and roleplaying.

Introduction

A black man is being chased through the streets of the town, a dark skinned man in his thirties, a twenty man strong mob pursuing him with murder in their hearts. The man ends up on the characters’ doorstep, begging them to help him. "Protect me, and I shall reward you with power and wealth", he whispers as the mob rushes up towards the adventurers’ lodging. Outside the mob screams, "In the name of all that is holy and pure, release the heretic!", as they start banging on the door.

Scenario One

The man is an ex-seaman and pirate called Murazo, he has left the sea to explore these lands for fortune and glory. However, he found only racism and poverty, and not so long ago a former colleague of his arrived in town to wrench out of Murazo the whereabouts of the lost treasure he hid somewhere in the land. So his former colleague has set an angry mob on him, accusing him for being a heretic. Murazo however, has sworn not to tell anyone where he hid the treasure unless it will save him his life of course (pirate’s honor isn’t too much to brag about). Can the adventurers help the poor foreigner, and perhaps accompany him on a quest to reclaim that treasure?

Scenario Two

The black man is a con artist named Ruben, specialized in tricking well-meaning out-of-towners into selflessly helping protect his life, for which he swears eternal loyalty and servitude, as well as promises of wealth and power "as soon as I get back to my (insert person or group of influence of choice)". This time he has disguised as Ma-Am, the prince and heir of a foreign aristocratic trade house set up in the capital. He swears he is rich and powerful, but needs to get back home to get his hands on his wealth and influence, if only the adventurers could bribe off the racist mob and help him secure a transport to the capital (all his valuables has been stolen by the mob you see). His partner, is waiting outside, leading the mob, for the adventurers to bribe them to go away. Once that is done, Ruben will try his best to milk the adventurers of any resources they might have.

Scenario Three

The black man, called Ask, really is a mutant and heretic, his skin is black because of the sooth running through his veins instead of blood. He leaves sooth marks on everything he touches (which is why he wear gloves), and can feed only on charcoal. The wealth he has to offer stems from working as a middleman between unscrupulous merchants and any band of heretics and cultists , and the power he peddles is that of the Dark. The philanthropic adventurers might not learn the truth until it is too late.

This is an experiment in designing adventures in a format similar to that of the short "Tales of Terror" plots that have been used in horror-themed games. In this format, a short adventure setup is followed by three different explanations, each leading in a different direction. If enough of these are collected, a Tales of Adventure Codex will be assembled.

Those interested in seeing the original "Tales of Terror" using this format may wish to go to Steve Hatherley’s website: http://www.talesofterror.net

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A basic 3.5 for being short, direct and complete. +0.5 for delving into the racism theme (I'm a fan of stories delving into any kind of meaningful/thought provoking life issues, hence Lord of the Rings remains my all time fav)